It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special
| season = 3 | number = 98 | image = TinyToonsXmas.jpg | production = | airdate = December 6, 1992 | writer = Sherri Stoner Deanna Oliver | director = Tom McClenahan | animation = StarToons | creditgag = Stop Watching These Credits And Go Buy Us A Really Nice Gift! | closetag = Gogo: "Season's Greetings!" | previous = "Best of Buster Day" | next = The Tiny Toons Spring Break Special }} "It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special" is a Christmas-themed episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, originally aired as a prime-time special on FOX, as well as the last regular episode of the series. As suggested by the title (and a line in the opening sequence), the story is a parody of the film It's a Wonderful Life. Synopsis The special opens on Christmas Eve, much like the opening scene from It's a Wonderful Life, where various characters from the show are praying to the heavens on behalf of their star, Buster Bunny (with Plucky Duck being a seeming exception who then starts praying for Buster's sake when he's convinced that no one else is looking). Up in the sky, the voice of St. Joseph is heard to summon an angel named Harvey (who speaks with a George Bailey-esque voice), telling him that Buster Bunny is thinking of quitting Tiny Toons because he thinks he's a failure. Harvey's boss then proceeds to show him what circumstances led to this: Earlier that day, Buster is in charge of directing the Tiny Toons holiday special. During rehearsals, Montana Max who (akin to Mr. Potter) is in a wheelchair due to an accident while skiing with Morgan Fairchild, shows up, and is outraged to learn that he's been cut out of the special because Buster didn't think he would show up. Furious, Max does everything to ruin the rehearsals - he causes Li'l Sneezer to sneeze during his Christmas Carol sketch, he convinces Babs that Buster is hitting on her ice skating partner Cher and then rigs the stage so that Cher falls into a tub of Acme piranhas, and then he places TNT in Plucky and William Shatner's microphones. Everyone takes out their frustration on Buster, and to make matters worse, the FOX network executives put Max in charge of making the special. Feeling he's let everybody down, Buster leaves, causing his friends to worry for him. Buster heads off to literally "throw himself out of the picture" (by jumping out of the celluloid), but before he can do so, Harvey (whose appearance is that of a tall rabbit) drops in, introducing himself to Buster as his "guardian toon angel". Buster refuses to believe this angel is for real, until he makes a wish that he'd never been on Tiny Toons, which Harvery instantly grants. On this note, Buster declares, "You're nuts! Warner Bros. would never let me out of my contract!", at which point a bolt of lightning disintegrates it from his hand. To prove his point, Harvey takes Buster to an alternate reality where he never existed. Acme Acres is now ruled by Max and called "Montyville" , and Plucky Duck is the main star of Tiny Toons, with Babs stuck as the hapless patsy who is a constant victim of anvils dropping on her. When Buster sees this, he storms the set of the show and confronts Plucky, screaming, "What are you, Goofy?" Insulted by that remark ("What are you, a spy from Disney?!"), Plucky has the alternate equivalents of Arnold and Sneezer (the latter of whom is named Sleezer) throw him out. Refusing to listen to what Harvey's telling him, Buster takes a look at Acme Looniversity, only to find that it is now "Montana Max's Business Looniversity", where students must learn about business 24/7 (literally, because Max has given the students an 18-hour day, due to the holidays). But the final crushing blow for Buster comes from when he meets the alternate version of Babs, who has become a major bummer of a nerd (and is dressed like the alternate version of Mary Bailey) after watching cartoons in the film vault. After she and Buster introduce themselves to each other and Buster finishes with the famous end line, "No relation," Babs wonders if she knows him (because it's the first time since she'd starred with Plucky on Tiny Toons that that end line has worked). When Buster tells her flat-out that they're the real stars of the series, Babs berates that idea and flat-out insists Plucky is the star. On this, Buster pleads to Harvey to send him back to the world he knows, which Harvey agrees to do, but first they have to break for commercials first. After the commercial break, Harvey disappears and seems to abandon Buster, until the Babs that Buster knows comes into the film vault and addresses him directly. Buster is ecstatic about this and runs about kissing and giving holiday greetings to everything in sight (including wishing a Happy Hanukkah to Steven Spielberg), until finally Babs stops him and tells him that Monty, as the new director, is ruining the special (his skits include Plucky reading a ridiculous poem about banking, and Elmyra being cast as Leona Helmsley). Buster's position as director is restored when he returns to the Looniversity, and Buster then promises Max that he's given him a new part as the star - though, as Max soon finds out, Buster means "Christmas tree star". Buster then reveals that earlier he was asking Cher what to give Babs for Christmas; when Babs asks what it was, Buster responds by giving her a very deep kiss. The special ends with the main characters singing a song concluding with a variation of Clarence's note to George: "No Toon is a failure who has friends." In the very last shot, Harvey takes off his costume, revealing himself to be Bugs Bunny, and comments, "Not bad... for amateurs." Trivia * Besides the plot, other references to It's a Wonderful Life include: ** Max is introduced as "the richest and meanest toon in Acme Acres", similar to Mr. Potter's introduction. ** When Buster comments on her dress, Cher replies, "This old thing? I only wear it when I don't care how I look." ** Gogo Dodo slides down a banister, knocking off a loose banister knob. ** In the cartoons that Alternate Babs is watching in the film vault, Porky Pig tells Petunia that he's going to lasso the moon for her, and Pepe Le Pew applies a cologne labeled "Zuzu's Petals". * In addition to Cher and William Shatner (the latter of whom is called "The Parum-Pum Man" in the end credits), the celebrity guest stars at the rehearsals include Bob Hope (as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Sneezer's sketch) and Luke Perry (whom Plucky insultingly refers to as "Mr. 'I Star In A Show About Zip Codes"). * In the alternate reality, Bugs/Harvey reads a newspaper with the headline "''Encino Man'' Wins Best Pic Oscar". External links * Christmas Specials Wiki: Category:Tiny Toon Adventures episodes Category:Christmas Category:Bugs Bunny filmography